disabled mom may lose home

By Mhlaba Memela -
19 October 2009 - 02:00

WORRIED: Thembekile Ngubo says Ithala Bank has threatened to kick her out of her house because she cannot afford to pay the R945 a month bond instalments. Both her legs were amputated after she was diagnosed with diabetes. Pic: Mhlaba Memela. 18/10/2009. Sowetan.

A DISABLED single mother of three fears her family will be left homeless because she cannot afford payments on her house.

A former department of finance employee, Thembekile Ngubo, 57, of Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal, was confined to a wheelchair after both her legs were amputated because of diabetes.

Ngubo was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990.

"My life got worse in 1995 when the illness forced me to spend months in and out of intensive care at various hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.

"I have also had several operations and have been confined to a wheelchair after both my legs were amputated because of diabetes," she said.

Ngubo's children have dropped out of school because she cannot afford their school fees on her meagre pension.

She said Ithala Bank threatened to repossess her house if she failed to pay the R945 monthly bond instalments, though she had declared that she was disabled and unemployed.

"They threatened to repossess the house if I fail to pay. I can't lose this house because I have nowhere else to go to. I am forced to pay R945 every month to keep this house, though the bank assured me that the insurance will settle my debt when I fell sick," she said.

"I was treated like dirt by officials when I wanted to know why my insurance documents were not processed. They once sent me to their Durban office, where I also experienced trauma from staff who subsequently failed to help me.

"They told me to go back to work despite seeing that I was in a wheelchair and my legs were amputated," Ngubo said.

"My children dropped out of school because the little money we have can't even provide a meal for a day."